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JCB will attempt to break diesel-powered speed record this week

Savannah Morning News

Savannah Morning News

Savannah Morning News

JCB isn't planning to compete with Ferrari's customer base any time soon.

But the construction equipment company could put its name in the minds of speed enthusiasts around the world this week when it attempts to set a new speed record in excess of 300 mph and earn the title of "World's fastest diesel."

The United Kingdom-based company, with its North American headquarters in Savannah, recently produced a $9.4 million streamlined car that will be unleashed on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

That's where the current record of 235.756 mph was set by Virgil W. Snyder in the Thermo King Streamliner on Aug. 25, 1973.

JCB is planning to transmit live footage of the record-breaking attempt to the Savannah plant one day this week for employees to witness the event.

The JCB Dieselmax streamliner is not just a case of testosterone gone wild, said spokesman Paul Keogh.

"Part of the view of the project is 'How can we push our engineering knowledge to the limit?' " Keogh said. "The criteria was that the engine is the basic example of a highway engine - just adopted for the speed record. In essence, the design is the same as one of the backhoes we design here in Savannah."

Two JCB444 engines are the lightning behind this Frankenstein. It took the JCB Group Engineering team and technology partner Ricardo PLC five years, 100,000 hours of testing and $28 million to bring it to life in 2004.

"We want to be a fully integrated company," Keogh said. "We didn't want to be dependent on a third-party engine supplier."

The engine is now used by the company's backhoe loaders and Loadall telescopic handlers. It also has been adapted for pump units and marine applications. JCB expects to eventually market about 20 percent of the engine's production to third parties.

Wing Commander Andy Green will be in charge of taming the Dieselmax. Having set the supersonic land speed record at 763.035 mph on Oct. 15, 1997, Green is eager to get JCB's name in the record books.

"We will be following in the tradition of British record breakers by running at the sport's spiritual home, the remarkable Bonneville Salt Flats," Green said in a press release. "I am really looking forward to driving another British entry in the '300 mph Club,' and a diesel-engined, wheel-driven one at that."

Length: 28 feet, 9 inches

Width: 3 feet, 9 inches

Height: 3 feet, 2 inches (to top of canopy, at run speed)

4 feet, 4 inches mm (to top of fin)

Weight: 5,953 pounds including fuel, oil, ice and water coolant and driver

The international supercharged diesel streamliner class record stands to Virgil W. Snyder and Thermo King Streamliner at 235.756 mph, set over a measured mile on Aug. 25, 1973, on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.